The bro-mance is in full bloom, as the first official heterosexual, man-date movie is released – “I Love You, Man”. Genius, simply genius, I must give a golf clap to director/writer John Hamburg for pulling this movie off. He wrote the “Meet the Parents” films, so the guy does have comedy skills. Paul Rudd stars as the quiet everyman, Peter Klaven. He’s about to be married to the gorgeous Zooey (Rashida Jones), when he overhears her talking to her girlfriends. She’s worried that Peter has no friends, apart from his mother, and she doesn’t even know who’s going to be the best man at his wedding. Peter decides to venture into the wiles of Los Angeles and find himself a best friend. Basically, man-date to see if he can meet a guy who will be the best man at his wedding. Meanwhile, he risks losing his job as a realtor due to his failure to find a buyer for Lou Ferrigno’s (TV’s Incredible Hulk) house.

The plot for this film sounds ridiculous. Which is why it is so surprising that the film is actually funny, clever, and heartwarming. The key to success here is Hamburg follows up his great script with great casting. Jason Segal co-stars as Sydney, a guy that Peter meets at his Lou Ferrigno open house. Sydney’s just there for the free food, but has a good conversation and seems likeable enough. After many hilarious failures man-dating, Peter gives Sydney a call and they agree to meet up again. They become fast friends and throw a twist into Zooey’s life as the fount for Peter’s attention.

I laughed myself to tears during this film. It’s that funny. Maybe my expectations were low walking in, but the film delivers the laughs in spades. Jason Segal and Paul Rudd are a part of this new team of comedic actors hitting the big time in Hollywood. They had previously co-starred in “Knocked Up” and “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”. These were all very good comedies, so these guys definitely have a great screen repoire. I would not be at all surprised to see other buddy films with these two in the lead.

It is important to note that the terms ‘bro-mance’ and ‘man-date’ are silly; and not at all spawned by the filmmakers. I don’t even know where there origin is, but they describe this film perfectly. I Love You, Man is more then a buddy comedy. It’s a friendship story that is sweet, not mean-spirited, and apart from one side-splitting scene, no homosexuality at all. I just hope the future films in the bro-mance genre are nearly this good.